Honoring April’s Legacy: How Mahatma Phule and Dr. Ambedkar Shaped India’s Social Justice Movement

I know, I’ve been MIA for almost a month now. I had hoped to write at least one article a week, but I’m still struggling to meet that goal. Strangely, I sense some disorientation among my regular readers when I go quiet.

Here’s the update: I’m currently pursuing my MA in Psychology, and the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of assignments. I was writing 6,000 words a day, fueled by caffeine and willpower. On top of that, I had guests over, making everything more chaotic. 

But I promised myself I’d write this week. Why? Because this week holds deep meaning—especially for social justice movements in India and particularly in Maharashtra, where I was born. So yes, I’m back—and I’ve got something to say. So, yes, I’m back, and I’ve got things to say.

Politics, religion, and social justice are so deeply entwined in India that separating one from the other feels impossible. Maharashtra, historically, has been a hub for progressive movements. Think of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar—two giants who shaped India’s social conscience. Phule, born April 11, 1827, and Ambedkar, on April 14, 1891, make this week especially significant.

People often ignore their caste backgrounds, but it matters. Phule comes from OBC whereas Dr. Ambedkar comes from SC caste but fought for the same cause—challenging regressive practices upheld in the name of religion and divine order.

Even today, caste and religion remain central to political unrest. Though swamped, I’ve been following it closely. After BJP’s win in Maharashtra, I wrote a piece warning about rising chaos—and that’s exactly what’s happening now.

You can take pride in your God, your religion, and your caste—but when viewed through the lens of humanity, it becomes a face of injustice against another. Your God, religion, and caste condition you to believe that a divine being watches their every move—commanding you to kill, discriminate, strip away livelihoods, and deny opportunities and basic rights and promises salvation/moksha if they obey—even if it means denying someone else their rights. All in the name of preserving a system. 

Rebellion isn’t allowed in God’s world—it’s all about obedience. Imagine if Mahatma Phule had obeyed. We wouldn’t have educated women today. When he and Savitribai Phule opened a school for girls, only six enrolled—four were Brahmin girls. At that time, Brahmin widows were forced to shave their heads, wear white, and live in isolation.

Without education, women couldn’t earn money. Without money, they couldn’t make life decisions. This kept them completely dependent on their husbands—obedience enforced through control. If a husband died, the woman was barred from remarrying. To prevent male attention, her beauty was stripped away—head shaved, dressed in white, banned from social gatherings. Worst of all, she was denied basic nutrition, left weak, and eventually made to die.

These widows were isolated, outcast, and many exploited—some raped and forced to bear children from those twisted encounters. Mahatma Phule opened shelters for these women, as well as for the children born from such abuse.

Dr. Ambedkar carried forward that legacy. Through the Hindu Code Bill, he fought for women’s rights to education, remarriage & divorce, alimony, share in property and also InterCast marriage. This was no easy task many Upper caste Brahmins leaders at that time opposed it there were riots Dr. Ambedkar resigned due to agitation and later Hindu Code Bill was enforced in 5 stages by PM Nehru as imposing it in one go was made so difficult. Yet, he’s often reduced to just a "Dalit leader." That’s a grave injustice. His legacy isn’t limited to caste. The Reserve Bank of India was born out of his thesis, The Problem of the Rupee. But his contributions are often sidelined due to his caste imposed on him in the name of religion and culture.

The history of caste reform in India has often erased the role of revolutionaries and social reformers. Even today, truth-telling faces resistance—critically acclaimed Santosh was cancelled, and Phule faced backlash and delays. Speaking the truth about caste triggers shame, but are we really teaching our children to do better than the past?

Dalits, like women, were stripped of dignity. They couldn’t grow mustaches, wear decent clothes, or eat certain foods like ghee. Education was denied. And even when educated, opportunities were stolen from them. Even if educated, they were stripped of job opportunities, kept dependent on the other three varnas, and forced to serve with no rights in return.

Even today, patriarchy resists empowered women. It expects submission, homemaking, and silence. The same goes for caste. Brahmins dominate others, OBCs dominate SC/ST/NTs. When it comes to religious minorities, these groups unite to bully Muslims and Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and other smaller communities. Then they talk about unity and stopping conversions. What nonsense!

Religion can unite, yes. But if it promotes inequality, it cannot sustain unity. Inequality isn’t culture—it’s a recipe for collapse. And to maintain that inequality, pushing a country toward fascism becomes necessary. Golwalkar and Savarkar wrote about it openly. Savarkar even justified using women as tools. So, no surprise—when their followers are in power, rapists roam free.

Do they really care about your religion or you? Ask yourself: what happens after they’re done with Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains? Who’s next? OBCs? Then lower-caste Brahmins? Even Brahmins, unless they belong to the elite three, won’t be spared. Which Brahmin are you? Honestly, when someone talks to me about caste pride, I laugh. What else can I do? I’m a thinker with a quirky brain.

While studying world history through the lens of religion, I saw a pattern. Every religion started as rebellion against another religion's malpractices imposed by priestly class. This cycle continued until Buddha. After him, the world gradually leaned toward democracy. We got philosophers, scientists, and technologies we rely on today. People might try to box me in for speaking about Buddha—but legendary thinkers like Einstein and modern writers like Yuval Noah Harari (a Jewish author from Israel) admired him. 

So again—what kind of country do you want to live in? One without infrastructure, scientific progress, or equal rights? One that treats people like slaves in the name of religion. Isn’t this Is there really anything to be proud of, except for religion? Isn’t this the modus operandi of poor Abrahamic countries, using religion to brainwash people into dying or killing for it?

To be honest, I don’t align with Abrahamic religions. And I don’t see Hinduism as very different when it mirrors the same oppressive structures. Everything good about is Hinduism or Vedic era is also a false —there’s no historical proof of the Vedic age. India wasn’t even built on a single language like other nations. Our strength lies in our culture—rooted in Shraman Sanskriti. That’s undeniable.

Now, people will ask: “Do you support lower castes and hate Brahmins?” I’ve answered that before—and I’ve got more to say. But I’ll save it for another time.

Rulers—whether religious or democratic—will always do whatever it takes to stay in power. In religious systems, whoever brainwashes better wins. In democracies, whoever convinces you they’re working for your interests wins. But it’s the people who need to wake up. And I hope you do.